Project management research – the challenge and opportunity

Despite decades of in-depth research into methods for improving project management, organizations are continually struggling to successfully achieve project goals and accomplish business results through projects. This paper examines the challenges and opportunities that project management researchers are now facing and suggests possible directions that may help these researchers evolve their discussions on the field's future. In doing so, it overviews three high-profile projects that failed to meet the original targets and identifies the challenge now facing project management researchers; it describes the evolution of project management research since the 1960s and notes the way that four other disciplines have evolved along side project management.